The Tamsin Scale
by bitchdoilooklikeawizard
Summary: This is based on "The Kenzi Scale," episode 6 of the third season of Lost Girl, but told from Tamsin's point of view. This was a request I'd received. No infringement intended.


Dyson sank the nine ball in the side pocket, meaning he'd won the game.

_At least he didn't let me win because I'm a girl_. _That's the oldest guy-trick in the book._

But before he could start rubbing it in my face, clanging of dishes or silverware and a commotion interrupted his victory howl-thank God. I looked up to see everyone's _favorite _Succubus, also known as Bo, roughly slamming her human friend, Kenzi, against the bar of the Dal and yelling.

"Trick! I don't know who this is-" Bo yelled as she used her body to press the human up against the bar.

_Why is she being so violent? Kenzi is her friend. And she's a petite human. There's no need for force to subdue her like that. You're using force as if she were an ogre, _I thought.

"You're _hurting _me, Bo-Bo!" the skinny goth human protested.

"-but it is _not _Kenzi! Don't call me that! _Kenzi _calls me that! Where is she!?" the Succubus screamed. Trick, Bo's grandfather and Light Fae, called for Dyson, who still stood by the bar's pool table with me. Dyson attemped to clear the bar out. I just _had _to see how this would play out. I looked over at the Succubus who still had her tight grip on the human by her hair.

_Ouch, _I thought.

"Let _go!_" Kenzi cried out.

"Give me back my friend, we got a deal, _bitch!_" the Succubus spat. I must admit that it was rather odd seeing the Succubus so violent toward her friend. Dyson yelled again that the bar was closed and for everybody to go home. This time, people actually started to leave. He grabbed the infuriated Succubus and manually restrained her. In my opinion, he was holding her a little _too _close and a little _too _tight. But whatever. If that's how he got his fix of his ex, then so be it. Who am I to stand in the way of that trainwreck.

"I _am _your friend, Bo-Bo!" the frightened human replied, her light blue eyes searching Bo's for any sign of recognition.

"Don't call me that!" the Succubus snapped again. To my surprise, Dyson released her, but only to ask her what happened and she tried to explain, but she ended up sounding like a lunatic. After a few more hostile exchanges between the friends, the curiosity of the situation got to me and I just _had _to get a closer look. I slowly made my way around the pool table and over to the Succubus and the human. I looked between the two familiar faces and saw that the Succubus was genuinely pissed and the human was indeed frightened for her life. It was pathetic, really.

"Bo's killing again," Kenzi blurted suddenly. Despite the seriousness of the news, I was quite satisfied.

_Maybe now the Happy Sunshine Gang will see that their favorite little Succulette isn't as virtuous as she seems, _I thought. _Maybe now they'll see her for what she truly is: a murderer._

She _was _a murderer. She'd killed a Fae woman _and _put a Dark Fae elder in a coma from her feeding. Now, despite my expertise in self-control, I really couldn't help myself for what I did next. Especially not after a sell-out like that. That was like soap opera golden drama shit.

"Yes!" I heard myself say. Oops. I just really love being right. And I love saying 'I told you so.'

"How _dare _you!" the Succbus growled through clenched teeth as she lunged at the human. Dyson had to manually restrain her for a second time that night. Lucky him. He liked it, I could totally tell. The Succubus struggled to tear herself away from him and free herself from his grip, but to no avail, which wasn't a suprise to me. Not with that unnecessary tight grip. Then her grandfather, hoping that his granddaughter hadn't completely lost it, asked her how she knew it wasn't Kenzi.

The Succubus' weak evidence was, "I just know. In my bones, I know."

_Yeah. And killers 'just know' that it wasn't them who murdured the victim. Figures._

Sorry I didn't believe her right then and there, with good, hard evidence like that. Don't trust your gut, folks! Trust your _bones_. They hold the truth-the path of the straight and _marrow_.

"When I told her that I might be killing again, she didn't care. Trick, it is NOT Kenzi. I am telling you," the Succubus pleaded.

_So it's not just me suspicious of Bo. The Succubus herself just admitted that she is afraid that she might be killing._

Dyson shot me an upset look.

_Probably upset that his precious Succubus really has cracked, _I thought. _Pity._

"You see?" Kenzi gestured to the emotionally-compromised Succubus, completely proving her point instead of referencing her bones. Trick then commanded Dyson, who signalled me to go and help him, to put the Succubus in holding. Bo was so crazed that she actually was under the impression that they had believed her and were going to put Kenzi in holding.

That's so like the Light Fae. Lead you to believe that you have a chance when in actuality, you have none. They should've just told her that they thought she was a nutcase upfront. But no, they wanted to play ring-around-the-rosies first like the Light _always _do. If it were up to me, I would've just told her that she was a crazy-psycho bitch right then and there.

As soon as I grabbed her, the Succu-genius figured out that it was, in fact, _not _Kenzi who was going to be locked up, but her own self. Beauty _and _a set of brains. At least we know now that her head is on her shoulders for a reason other than to just look pretty. She then proceeded to make a pathetic, melodramatic exit by screaming and struggling to get away the entire time Dyson and I dragged her around back to the keg room.

It _was _ironic that I locked her up back there. I always said that I wanted her locked up for putting that Dark Fae happily to rest in his coma, but I never really meant it. I actually kind of _needed _Bo, but not in the way most think. No, I needed her-or should I say, her _father_ needed her. I was supposed to bag her and deliver her to him. But that was going to be difficult if she actually was locked up for making Mr. Dark Fae Elder Dude become Mr. Sleepyhead Coma Guy. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do right then as Dyson secured the padlock. If she really did get locked up, how was I going to get her out so I could get her to her dad?

"Lauren should be here by now," Trick muttered impatiently.

_I hope you called the doctor so she could come euthanize her crazy girlfriend, _I thought. But I knew that wasn't the case.

"You need the girlfriend to sign off on Bo's arrest? How many more Fae have to die before you WAKE UP!?" I shouted frustratedly.

"Bo is _not _a killer," Dyson told me.

_Yeah,_ I thought. _And I'm not dying._

"It's time we take her to the Dark Fae compound," I told them. Dyson is Light Fae, so by 'we,' I meant me because Light Fae can't go on Dark Fae territory. And by 'Dark Fae compound,' I mean the Wanderer. It would've so simple to just snatch the Succubus and bring her to him. My job would've been done and I could go do someting better with the remainder of my life: live out my retirement until my expirement-I know that's not a word, but it goes with my point so nicely.

"My granddaughter stays here until we figure out what's going on," Trick stated firmly. "Lauren'll be here any minute and then she'll run some tests. Until then, we keep Bo safe."

_Is this all a freaking experiment to you guys? _I thought angrily.

"Who died and made _you _king?" I challenged the old man.

"No one," he looked at me with a mysterious look in his eyes. "And as proprietor of this way station, I have the right to declare sanctuary."

Man, do I hate it when Fae declare sanctuary. Why can't you just take things like a man? Sanctuary is for pussies and I _don't _mean cats. In response to Trick's declaration of sanctuary, I angrily slammed my palm on the table and stormed off. After I'd cooled off, I came to talk to Kenzi alone. Since she was in such a sell-out-ish mood, I figured that she might give me some dirt on the Succu-bitch. I sat on a bar stool next to her as she lowered a silver chain from her mouth.

_Gross. Since when doesKenzi like to chew on jewelry? That's like a Kitsune I knew way back: Inari... I had to protect her own kind from her. But there's no way that she's out and about. Not after what the Norn did to her._

"Hey," I greeted the human awkwardly. I must admit that I'm not much for small talk, but I had to try if I wanted her to spill the beans. You can't just approach someone and say, 'Hey, tell me all the nitty-gritty details on your crazy friend.' But I couldn't help myself-where my self-control went that day, I don't know-so I said, "So sorry your friend turned crazy-psycho bitch."

"You're so _not,_" Kenzi shot back.

_Nice, Tamsin. Way to get her to open up._

I am so bad at that shit. But it was true and she was right, unfortunately. I wasn't sorry.

"Still," I said. "It must really suck for you."

"Thanks," she responded flatly.

"She confessed?" I asked, still hoping to get some dirt.

"Another rough sex game gone wrong for Bo-Bo. It happens... if you're a Succubus."

_Kenzi is putting forth no effort to defend Bo. In the last several minutes or so, Kenzi has stuck to calling Bo b her pet name, 'Bo-Bo.' Yeah, that is normal for Kenzi, but it was also a bit much. Kenzi didn't always call Bo by that nickname. And I'd just insulted Bo by calling her a crazy-psycho bitch and that didn't even seem to phase Kenzi in the least bit. And there's no way that Kenzi would keep doubting Bo and sell her out. If I'd ever seen the definition of friendship, it'd be them. Kenzi should be more broken up about this whole situation... But she's not._

"But earlier, you gave her an alibi," I pressed. I presented this more as a statement even thought I meant it more as a question. At this point, I was highly suspicious of this 'Kenzi'-if she was indeed Kenzi. I was beginning to think that maybe it _wasn't _Bo who'd gone crazy-psycho bitch. Maybe it was Kenzi.

"Earlier, I wasn't scared for my life," Kenzi responded.

_But you wouldn't be this afraid of Bo. You'd be more concerned for her than scared for yourself._

"Must be horrible to hear Bo say all those things," I said with a neutral tone. I watched her face, analyzing her facial expressions.

"Best friends fight," she responded.

_Hold up. 'Best friends fight?' Did she seriously just say that? I would've expected something more along the lines of 'Yes, it did hurt. But we'll move past this. I know she will get better.' Or just something like that. And best friends like them did NOT fight, unless something compromised one or both of them._

Kenzi turned to me with a familiar, dangerous aggression and asked through gritted teeth, "Is there a problem?"

_Inari... oh so confrontational. Oh so bad at acting when it comes down to it. _

She couldn't stay in character too well when she was under pressure. If you didn't pay attention, she really could fool you. But I'm a detective and an ex-bounty hunter. I'm no fool.

"You really don't like me, do you?" I covered.

"You... You've been trying to put my BFF in jail forever," she practically growled. "So no. Not a big fan of _that_."

"Gee... Such a shame," I retorted. I tried to look her in the eyes, but she avoided my stare.

"I'm gonna go home and grab some stuff for Bo-Bo. Rehab is rough and no one knows how to make care packages like _moi_. So _peace_... Bottle Blonde."

"Good chat," I murmured to myself, ignoring the insult at my blonde locks of hair. It _was _a good chat for me. I'd found out that, unfortunately, the supposedly crazy Succubus was right _and _that it was entirely possible that we had an insane Kitsune on the loose who somehow had her glamor powers back.

Much to my annoyance, the Morrigan requested to see me. I love the Dark, but I hate the Morrigan. She's an evil, conniving bitch. And she's beautiful. And she knows it.

"You texted?" I asked annoyedly as I got into her dark limo.

"Heard the good news," she replied with a devious smirk and a mischievous glint in her eyes. "A little birdie told me about the Succu-bitch's blow-out at the Dal."

I really hate it when she beats around the bush. She needs to just spit out what she's thinking and that's that. But that'd be way too easy and make her plots way too blatant.

"What do you want?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

_I am not going to like the anwer to this, _I thought. And I was right. I didn't.

"Bo," she replied, still smiling. "Strung up and executed."

She proceeded to pour herself a glass of champagne as if she were celebrating.

_What a time to get buzzed._

"The Dark Fae that she fed on," the brunette continued, "is an eyewitness to how excessive her appetite has become."

"That Fae's in a _coma_," I reminded her. It wasn't like her to forget a detail like that, so I knew she was definitely up to something.

"You're observant," she retorted with her usual snark. "You're also a Valkyrie."

_I see that I'm not the only 'observant' one._

"And we both know what that means."

_Do we?_

"Wake him up so he can ID Bo."

_Is she crazy!?_

"He'll be a _vegetable_ for the rest of his life!" I warned her.

"Oh boo..." she sarcastically feigned concernment. "Don't grow a conscience on me now."

_Ouch._

"I read your rap sheet. This little errand is right in your wheelhouse."

_It may be, but I'm not proud of my wheelhouse._

"You give me too much credit," I said to her flatly.

"And you don't give me enough," she responded promptly. "I hope you haven't fallen in love with the Happy Sunshine Gang on your exchange program with the Light..."

_What!? ME!? NO! NEVER! That's crazy! Well... Maybe..._ I thought. Then I straightened myself out. _No. No, no, no. You aren't one of them. You're there for your own agenda. NO._

"I am _not_ one of them," I assured her. Or did I only say it aloud to assure myself?

"That's right. Your loyalties lie with me."

_Yeah, unfortunately._

"Fine," I said. I'd had enough of her mind games. "I'm on it."

"Cheers, darling!" she told me, happy to have gotten her way. "And would it kill you to smile? All that attitude'll only give you wrinkles..."

Lamely, I rebelliously continued pouting just to show her I did have some control. What else was I going to do? Smile like a dork? Smile just because she said so? Or smile because I was on my way to _kill _a Dark Fae elder-one of my own kind-which is punishable by death.

Just as I was about to enter the Dal, I stumbled upon something I never thought I'd stumble upon: Kenzi embracing Dyson in a hug that wasn't so friendly and platonic. It was more... lovey-dovey.

"I'm just so scared," I heard her whisper to him.

_Wow. What a cliche thing to say. What are you going to say next? 'I'm cold. Give me your jacket and hug me,' or something?_

Nah, she couldn't have. He was already hugging her _and _he had a sleevelss vest.

"I feel like I've lost my best friend," she went on.

"You haven't lost her," he replied, trying to soothe her. "And you still got me. Right?"

_Excuse me while I go puke._

"I don't feel safe," she whispered to him, holding him tighter. "I don't wanna go home."

"Well, you could... stay with me," he offered, unaware of her erotic intentions. And she smiled in response to this, happy with herself after he'd offered to take her to his place. I couldn't take it anymore. I slunk off to go around the building in order to reach Bo. I didn't want to see anymore of this love-fest. It was like an alternate universe.

_It's bad enough having to see Wolfman interact with Bo. And now the supposed Kenzi too? No. Gross. I'd rather be a vegetable._

"How's it going over there?" I asked Bo as she gave me a weary look. "From over here, it looks like those shackles are made of reinforced steel. Pretty strong stuff. And you're looking weaker by the minute."

"Just another reason not to waste my breath talking to _you_," she hissed at me.

"You don't give up, do you?"

I don't know why I asked. I already knew the answer.

"When it comes to Kenzi, no. And I never will," she informed me. It's entirely possible that I felt a little something in the heart's region of my chest at that moment, but I'll never tell.

"Well. In that case, you're going to need some help," I replied. My feelings had gotten the better of me. What the hell anyway? My self-control was shot that day anyway.

"I thought you _wanted _me locked up," she remarked, completely thrown off.

_I don't. I never did._

"Ugh, I _do..._" I lied through my teeth. "But not like this. Anyway, you're gonna need some help finding your little _goth _friend. That _thing _is _not _Kenzi. But we're gonna need some proof."

I'll admit that I was very willing to help her at that point. She was looking pathetically helpless and besides, I had to get her out somehow.

"This better not be a joke," she warned. It was an empty threat. She was weak and tired, I could see that. No way could she beat my ass, even if she was sufficienly juiced. The threat only amused me.

"No joke," I responded, dangling the keys to her cage in front of her. She reminded me of a hungry lioness in a zoo exhibit and I had the steak. She looked at me for a moment, obviously trying to figure out if I was lying or not.

And upon finding my sincerity, she said, "Open the door. We have to hurry."

_What, no 'please?' And that is not a door. That is a cage._

I did as I was told and helped her out of her shackles. I held a dagger up to her.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly.

"You mess this up, _all_ bets are off," I warned her. And this was _not _an empty threat.

"So how do we get out of here?" she asked me.

_Well, since that thing is probably trying to seduce Wolfman is probably at his place..._

"Why don't we just walk out the front door?" I suggested.

"What about Dyson?"

_Dude, you're worried about your ex at this hour when he could possibly be in the process of making Kitsune-Wolf babies with your friend's lookalike?_ The mental image in my head disgusted me.

"I think we have a little window of time."

When we went out to the bar area, there was Wolfman looking back at us-me-suspiciously.

_Oh good. So no Kitsune-Wolf babies then? No baby shower? Excellent!_

"Good plan!" she shouted frustratedly at me.

"Guess that window closed," I replied calmly. I was somewhat relieved.

"What's going on here?" he asked in an angry, suspicious tone.

_Nothing much, Dyson. Just a little search party for a lost girl._

"I thought you were taking Kenzi back to your place," I tried to distract him by dodging his question.

"Change of plans. Why is Bo out of her bonds?"

"She needed some exercise," I resplied. He didn't look to amused with this answer. "Look... we both know there's only one way out of this."

"I agree. And it's back that way," he warned me, attempting to turn the tables on me. "I _will _stop you if I have to."

_Maybe once you pull your head out of your ass and see things my way, you won't have to. You couldn't stop me if you tried, Mr. Wolfman._

"If there's one thing I hate, it's a man getting in the way of what I want. It's so retro," I responded.

"Dyson, Kenzi is out there," the Succubus tried. "You need to help us."

"No, you need to go _back_, Bo. I made a promise-"

"NO!" the Succubus adamantly refused. "Not until I find Kenzi."

I could see that the Wolfman didn't plan on budging any time soon, so I decided to rush things along. I pulled my hair back and got ready for my transition.

"For the record, I really didn't want to have to do this," I told him sincerely. It would waste the little amount of power and strength I had left in me; on an unworthy opponent such as him.

"What, give up peacefully?"

_Ha, ha. You're funny, Dyson. Tell me, why didn't you ever make it as a comedian?_

"Funny. People never seem to learn. _Don't _mess with a Valkyrie," I retorted as my face turned skeletal. I could feel Bo's eyes on me, but I knew she couldn't actually see the hideousness that was now becoming my face. Dyson pointlessly tried to shake it off and it didn't work as I knew it wouldn't. He took a few steps back.

"What are you?" he gasped from behind a pole that supported the Dal.

"What are you doing to him?" Bo asked. I could hear the concern in her voice.

_Not now, Bo_.

"Bo needs help!" Dyson insisted as he struggled to maintain coherency. "She... She needs restrainers."

I heard Bo coming up behind him, so I ditched my skeletal face and put on my human-like one again as she knocked the shapeshifter out with one of Trick's large, ancient reference books.

_Carefull, Bo. That could be an antique_.

"What _was _that!?" she asked in a startled awe.

"C'mon, Shawshank," I replied, dodging her question. "We're running out of time."

"I _saw _her face. She had these little teeth!" Bo animatedly told me as we walked out to my truck. She reminded me of a little kid.

"Like, little teeny-tiny teeth?" I asked.

"Yes!" she answered eagerly.

_Calm yourself, Bo._

"I think it's a Kitsune," I told her. I saw her confused expression and clarified. "A... A fox Fae."

"You _know _what that thing is?" she asked with disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Well, we need to find her and force her to take us to Kenzi!"

_Us? Did she just say 'us?' And this whole force thing is NOT going to happen Bo... if it's the Kitsune I think it is._

"I might know a shortcut. I did a job for a couple of friends a while back," I told her.

_A job I am not proud of just because of who is associated with it, _I thought. _Those damn Kitsunes._

"Okay, that's not cryptic at all."

_Oh, so you're a sarcastic Succubus too? Great._

"Is Dyson gonna be okay?"

_Dyson, Dyson, Dyson! Why's it always about Dyson? Don't worry about your lovesick puppy, Succubus. He'll be fine. You knocked him out before I could do any real damage-to him or myself._

"What did you do to him?" she asked again.

"Just jammed his signals a little bit... A little doubt goes a long way. He'll be... second-guessing himself for a while, but he'll be fine," I assured the worried Succubus.

"Doubt, huh?" she mulled it over.

"It's kinda my thing..."

"Well, it was intense," she remarked as she went around to get in my truck.

_Duh! That's the point! Raise the intensity so you take out your opponent. But I'm losing the intensity. I can feel it._

"Glad you enjoyed the show," I replied, more to myself than to her as I pulled a loose clump of my blonde hair out.

_And the end begins now,_ I thought.

I pulled into the parking lot near a sorority house and went inside with Bo. After a Kitsune name Amanda rambled on about some course she planned on taking during her time at college (which has been about twenty years so far, not that I'm counting) and bantered with her friend, Lola, who is also a Kitsune, I finally got the chance to introduce Bo.

"Lola," I said, addressing who I believed to be the most mentally-coherent Kitsune of the group. "This is my friend, Bo."

_'Friend?' What? Did you just say that?_

"As in 'unaligned Succubus' Bo? I heard she was in Hecuba prison..." she remarked, clearly interested.

_No. Bo as in the fifty-five year old man from Kansas who likes to go fly fishing in the woods._

"I heard she went Dark," Casey, another dipshit Kitsune added, coming into the conversation. Now _that _would've been a story. That would mean that Bo would be on my side.

"I heard she was pretty," Amanda interjected.

_Bitch! __Are you blind!?_ I wondered.

I couldn't help but express my thoguhts as I squinted at her and my eyebrows furrowed at her extremely false statement.

"This girl's all pasty..." she added, hoping that that would clear things up.

"To think I missed out by not going to college," Bo stated flatly.

"Okay," I interrupted, knowing that we weren't getting anywhere, especially with where this conversation was headed. "We're looking for a friend of yours. She used to live here, she likes shiny things..."

"Inari's no friend to anybody," Lola replied.

"This one time, I woke up from a nap and Inari was just... _staring_ at me," Amanda shared.

_Oh, so you only woke up from a nap once? Is that what your problem is... Maybe she was checking your eyesight, Ms. I-Heard-She-Was-Pretty-This-Girl-Is-All-Pasty!_

"One time, she used my toothbrush," Casey added. "Like, _in_ her mouth!"

"Not to mention your boyfriend," Amanda reminded her with a smirk. "In her mouth."

This was obviously a sore subject because Casey bared her little Kitsune teeth at Amanda and snarled. Lola shared with me that their situation with Inari got so crazy that they had to boot her out.

"She burned down our last den, the old sorority house," Casey told Bo once she'd calmed down. "And that's when we hired Tamsin for security."

"I made her doubt herself and her friends... Told her the Norn could grant her a wish," I explained to Bo.

_I took advantage of her weakness in wanting a friend and made her believe that she actually had a chance that someone would love her..._ I thought. _A weakness that haunts me._

"For a price," Bo replied.

"The one thing Inari really wanted was a friend. So she agreed to make a trade, but she didn't know the Norn would take her glamor powers. Without them, she couldn't feed."

"Not being able to Kitsune-out made her go cray-cray," Casey explained.

"Does the Norn still have Inari's powers bottled up?" Bo asked, processing the story.

"Four-one-one is some human chick busted into the Norn's and went all lumberjack on her tree. Spilled the bottle of Inari juice all over herself," Lola reported.

"And when Inari found out, she went on this bender and stalked the poor thing to get her powers back," Amanda added.

"That's Kenzi!" Bo exclaimed. "Why would _Kenzi _see the Norn?"

_Maybe because she too has eyes._

"Okay, do any of you know where Inari's at now?" I asked.

"Whenever we used to fight, she would-" Casy started.

"Shut _up_, Casey!" Lola interrupted.

"Yeah, Casey!" Amanda interjected.

"I don't want her coming after us," Lola told her.

"It's cool," Casey assured her. "Tam-Tam's our friend."

I made some kind of guttural noise in response to this statement.

_I would exactly call you my friends... I want friends. I really do... just... not.. .you._

"Sometimes she crashed in this creepy cave... Near the old dump off highway eight," Casey informed me.

"Do _not_ underestimate her," Lola warned. "I wouldn't wanna be that human."

Bo looked perplexed and worried for Kenzi's sake. Once we got back into my truck, my phone started to ring. It was Dyson.

_Geez, Dyson! Dude! You're like an obsessive boyfriend that I never wanted!_

I decided to answer, knowing he'd just call again if I didn't answer the first time.

"Dyson!" I paused. "Hey, boy."

"Thanks for the hangover headache," he mumbled to me over the phone. "Didn't even get the pleasure of getting drunk with you first."

"Pleasure was all mine," I told him.

_Actually, no. Thank your girlfriend who decided to face-book you. And I'm not talking about the stupid social network of this century._

"I know your game now, Tamsin," he warned me.

_No you don't._

"I'm going to see it coming next time," he continued.

_No you won't._

"So like a man... Always begging for a next time," I answered facetiously.

"I told Trick that you wouldn't take Bo to the Morrigan," he informed me, making it sound more like an order.

_You're damn right. You really don't see my game. I'm taking her to the Wanderer instead._

"I gave you my word, didn't I?" I reassured him.

_Not that that's worth much nowadays... even to me._

"It's not worth much, I'm afraid," he retorted.

_You're damn right_.

"I'm helping Bo find the _real_ Kenzi," I told him.

"Is that a trick too?"

"No, but this is," I replied as I hung up the phone and tossed it.

"What was that?" Bo asked me.

_Why all the questions, Bo? Why?_

"Bad reception," I lied. I parked my truck and had Bo get out of the truck with me so we could go trudging through the forest like a couple of _happy _campers on the Happy Sunshine Gang retreat or something. Bo kept falling behind and I grew more and more anxious and somewhat annoyed.

_I'm way older than her. She shouldn't be so winded. Why is she so far behind?_

"You okay back there? Need to sit down?" I called smugly back to her.

"What?" she asked breathlessly. "No. I'm good."

_Sure you are._

"We can take a break," I told her, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal. She was obviously exhausted. She reluctantly stopped and continued on with her airy talking.

"This isn't a break... This is me relishing the chance to grill you."

_Sure. Whatever you say._

"Okay!" I answered, amused.

"So..." she began, pausing to take another gasping breath. "This is what you do for fun? Track people?"

_You have no idea._

"_Did_... Past life, past tense. And it wasn't always this much fun."

_Who am I kidding? This wasn't ever fun. I never did this for fun._

"Right..." she breathed. "So how _did_ a bounty hunter like you end up being a cop... here?"

"Uh, special assignment," I answered, struggling for words. "I pissed off the wrong people."

"No... really..." she pressed. "I am asking."

_Geez, you sound like you're being banged by an invisible ghost with the way you're breathing, _I thought.

"But you're not really listening," I tried to vaguely warn her.

"There," she said, suddenly distracted. "There's that smell again."

"What smell?" I asked. I didn't smell anything.

"When Inari... that _thing_ brought me ice cream... I smelled something. I don't know, like clay... I think..." she called over her shoulder. "It's getting stronger..."

"Is that a Succubus thing?" I asked. If it was, I was unaware of their heightened sense of smell. I hoped I'd showered recently.

No, it is a _new _thing," she informed me as she took some steps forward. She stumbled upon a tree root and gasped as she leaned against the tree for support.

_And there's the invisible ghost's grand finale..._

"You're not okay," I told her.

"Don't worry about it," she insisted. "We need to keep moving."

We pushed on, her trailing behind me as I effortlessly walked on the uneven path the forest set for us. She took labored breaths and I knew she never really did catch her breath even though we had stopped.

"Geez, you sound like you smoke eight packs a day! Take a knee, soldier."

I'd finally had a better thing to say rather than, 'Geez! You sound like you're being banged by an invisible ghost! Calm your tits, Succubus!'

"No..." the Succubus still stupidly insisted as she stumbled along. "I have to keep going... Kenzi-"

The Succubus fell to her knees and cried out.

_Another ghoulish grand finale?_

"This is all my fault..." she said through breathy gasps. "I am a terrible friend."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked incredulously. "My friends wouldn't walk two blocks if I was stuck in a bear trap!"

_What friends, Tamsin? The closest thing you have to friends are allies and even they're not trustworthy._

"Then you need new ones," she told me, as if I didn't already know.

_Yeah... Yeah. I do, Bo. But it's hard to make friends when you're out to get people and bring them to a Voldemort-bad Fae who-"_

"What's so great about Kenzi anyway?" I asked, hoping to clear my mind.

She took a few breaths before answering, "She's uh... She's Kenzi... She's smart... and honest... and kind... and she makes _me_ feel _normal_... and special... all at the same time..."

"Oh," I whispered as I averted my gaze and studied the suddenly interesting forest floor.

I remember a time I had friends. Not allies, but _actual _friends. It was during my first life cycle ever. After that first life cycle, we split apart. We worked on opposite sides, we worked on same sides. The way of the Valkyrie tore us apart. The way of the Valkyrie is a cold and dark path that is walked alone. I got so lonely, I even tried to have human friends. That didn't work. Hell, I've even watched friends of mine die. I've seen my friends repeatedly hurt and torture themselves their entire life cycle just to go and do it again as soon as they are reborn. Life cycle after life cycle, self-destroy. My life as a Valkyrie has taught me one thing, when it comes to relationships: don't grow too close to anyone because they're never there long. And if they are, they'll only bring you pain.

Bo broke my train of thought as she continued, "She is my _heart_, Tamsin... and I don't even know how long she has been missing! She kept trying to tell me something and I wouldn't even _listen_ to her... Promise me... that if something happens... Promise me that you will find her."

_Stop it! Goddammit, Bo! I'm going to start crying. I've spent enough of my life times doing that!_

"Okay, why don't we just save this guilt trip for later. We are hunting Kitsune. _GET IN THE GAME!_" I yelled at her, trying to motivate her. She weakly nodded and made a huge effort in getting up. Just getting up seemed to tax her.

"When was the last time you fed?" I asked her, frustrated that this may be what her problem was and what it would lead to.

"I don't know... I can't remember..."

_Dammit._

"You need a snack, so... You can feed off of me," I reluctantly offered. She looked at me, obviously torn between hunger and hatred. Comforting.

"I kinda hate you..." she breathed.

"I don't exactly love it either!" I promptly responded.

_Because you'll be taking some of my remaining life time away._

"But I need you cranked to _eleven,_ okay? Inari is a ballsy _bitch_ and shit will _definitely _get real, so _feed _off of me!"

That wasn't sexual desperation, I swear. No matter how attractive the unaligned Succubus is, I was thinking in terms of battle strategies.

"You tell anyone about this..." she breathed. "And I will _kill _you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I muttered. Let me tell you, when she wants to feed, she _feeds_. She grabbed me, yanked my face up down to hers, and kissed me hard.

_Jesus Christ..._

She kissed me and our mouths opened as I felt my chi already beginning to unsettle itself from inside me and begin to drift out of my mouth. Despite having my life energy being drained out, I felt lightheaded-high, even. I opened my eyes to meet her bright blue ones and realized that there was no way in hell she needed _that _much chi. I pushed her away and once she came to, she stepped back with her mouth open in surprise.

"I said _feed off of me,_ not suck me _dry!_" I shouted.

"That was _amazing!_" she exclaimed, completely awestruck. "I've never tasted chi like that!"

"It's not the first time someone said that about me-"

"It was _incredible_! But different..."

"Well. Glad you're sufficiently juiced," I responded, spinning on my heel to start walking toward our destination again. After a few more yards, she half-hid herself behind a tree and I walked up behind her as she took in her surroundings.

"We've got company," she murmured, as if I couldn't see what she was seeing. Several underfae stood chained outside of a cave.

"Looks like they're guarding something in that cave," I noted, breathing a little heavier than before. In my defense, my amount of life force had decreased.

"Kenzi..." she murmured to herself as she took out her knife. "Let's do this."

Apparently by 'let's,' she meant her because she left me outside in my slightly weakened state to fight a not-so-friendly while she went inside for her friend. While I was in the middle of throwing a crucial punch, I saw my asshat of a partner, Dyson, sprinting into the cave only moments after Bo had gone inside. His little run cost me that blow and got me a nasty bruise to my diaphragm, knocking the wind out of me.

_Thanks, partner._

Just as the not-so-friendly knocked me to the ground and readied himself to finish me off, Bo came up behind him, kicked his knees which caused him to collapse, and strangled him with his own chain as I got up and brushed myself off.

_Thanks, Bo. But I didn't really want your help. My contract is up when I die, so you should've just left me there to die. I've lived long enough in this life cycle._

"Wow," I exclaim, impressed she'd save me.

"Yeah."

"I guess I owe you one," I remarked.

"I'd say we're more than even," she told me with a small smile. I looked back at the cave, waiting for Kenzi and Dyson the Dipshit to come out.

_Bo, the Succubus Savior. Saving my soon-to-be-her-Judas' ass, _I thought as I remembered what the Morrigan had asked me to do to the Dark Fae elder. _Saving my ass just so I can betray her later and then capture her. Bo, you stupid, stupid girl..._

"Kenzi," I announced to Bo as soon as I saw two figures in sight of the entrance of the cave. Bo whipped around and saw her two friends make their way out of the cave and into the light. She went over to them, but I stayed put. I wasn't their friend. Like I said to the Morrigan, I wasn't one of them.I was an outsider. I didn't belong over there even though I'd helped track Kenzi down. It wasn't my place.

_Friends... Who needs them?_ I thought.

They hugged each other as if they were a family being reunited after a long period of separation.

_I do. _

Bo pulled out of their embrace and looked over at me. I stared at the ground, ashamed that I would be betraying such a virtuous heart.

_I'm not one of them,_ I told myself over and over. _I'm not one of them._

Bo smiled at me gratefully and Dyson looked at me with a look of hesitant approval in his eyes.

_Look at you,_ the voice inside my head hissed at me. _You're a snake. Getting these people to care about you. And how will you repay them? By stabbing them in the back. They'd never do that to you. That's how you know that YOU'RE NOT ONE OF THEM._

I made my way over to the Dark Fae's hospital later that day and entered the elder's place of comatose rest.

"Where am I?" he mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"You're in a hospital. You were in a coma," I reported. "I need to ask you a few questions."

"What happened?" he inquired. His eyes remained closed.

_You're asking me!?_

"You were assaulted outside the Dal, do you remember?" I asked.

"Yeah."

_Shit._

I looked at the folded picture of Bo I had with me and held it up in front of him.

"Was this who attacked you?"

He struggled to open his eyes, but this taxed him and his heart rate sped up as she cried out in pain.

"Why does it hurt so much?" he asked through a strained voice. "Make it stop..."

_You and me both, pal. _

"Is _this_ who attacked you?" I asked again, more loudly.

_Please say no._

"Yeah, that's her," he answered with a wavering voice.

_Dammit_.

I withdrew the photograph and crumpled it up in my hand. His face contorted in response to his excruciating pain.

"_Please!_" he begged, crying out again over the noise of the heart rate monitor, telling me his heart had begun palpitating. "Make it stop!"

_Sure thing._

I willed him to die and the heart monitor's beeping immediately changed to one long, solid tone. As I was leaving, a couple of nurses rushed past me, never suspecting a thing.

_I may not be one of them.._. I thought. _But I can try._

I walked into the Morrigan.

"Is he awake?" she asked me.

"He _was_," I told her.

"What happened?" she kept a dangerous low tone.

"He didn't talk. He's _dead_," I replied, a challenging glare glazed over my eyes.

"Take a minute," the Morrigan warned me. "Think this through before you commit. You sure this is how you wanna play it?"

_Bitch, I've never been so sure of something in any of my many lifetimes. _

I was so scared, I couldn't say anything. But I smirked in response, hoping to mask my fear.

She responded with a cold smile and said, "Bold move."

"See ya around," I said and walked around her with my legs shaking.

"Bet on it," she called after me.

_Well, I guess I can cross "Defy the Morrigan" off my nonexistent bucket list.._. I thought. _And I'm pretty sure that'll be the last thing I ever do because as soon as I finish drawing the line, I'll be a puddle of Valkyrie goo._


End file.
